Landslides increasingly threaten the world's urban poor

Over the last fifty years, disasters caused by landslides and floods have become ten times more frequent, despite landslides being significantly underreported in global databases. Worldwide, 4500 people are killed on average ...

Fiber optics open new frontier for landslide monitoring

Reservoirs provide water storage, hydropower, and recreation for local communities. However, adding a reservoir significantly changes a landscape's geological conditions and ushers in new and unpredictable hazards—most ...

Steep mountain slopes have surprisingly long lifetimes

Gravity and rock physics say slopes steeper than about 30°—known as the critical threshold angle, or the angle of repose—shouldn't really exist, yet they do. These steep slopes and near-vertical cliffs can be seen in ...

Getting a better view of landslide risk with LiDAR

In the mountains of North Carolina, landslides are no joke. Triggered by heavy rains, mountainside soils can become saturated and "unstuck." As a result, what starts as a small landslide can quickly escalate into a huge debris ...

Brazil storm death toll rises to 16

The death toll from torrential downpours that triggered flash floods and landslides in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state rose to 16 Sunday, with three people still missing, authorities said.

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